Deputies

The process was routine. L.A. County Sheriff's homicide investigator Kevin Lloyd was flipping through snapshots of tattooed gang members. Then one caught his attention. Inked on the pudgy chest of a young Pico Rivera gangster who had been picked up and released on a minor offense was the scene of a 2004 liquor store slaying that had stumped Lloyd for more than four years. Each key detail was right there: the Christmas lights that lined the roof of the liquor store where 23-year-old John Juarez was gunned down, the direction his body fell, the bowed street lamp across the way and the street sign — all under the chilling banner of RIVERA KILLS, a reference to the gang Rivera-13.

Law enforcement officials say a man who was shot and killed Sunday afternoon by Long Beach police pulled out a pair of scissors during a clash at a Target store in Compton before leading Sheriff's deputies on a chase into Long Beach, where he got out of his vehicle with a large wooden stick in hand. Security officers first tried to detain the man at the Target on South Alameda Street for “a crime allegedly committed at the store,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said late Sunday.

Re "Official possibly hindered probe of jails," Aug. 5 Your article took the unusual tack of protecting the identity of an inmate while revealing the name of three deputy sheriffs. The Times should not have released the names of the deputies. Protecting an inmate's identity may be appropriate. Printing the names of the deputies is dangerously irresponsible. Floyd Hayhurst Los Angeles Lee Baca Los Angeles Hayhurst is president of the Assn.

A knife-wielding man was shot and killed Friday night during a confrontation with deputies outside a home in Maywood, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff's deputies from the East Los Angeles Station responded around 11:06 p.m. to a report of a man attempting to commit suicide at a home in the 3800 block of 56th Street, according to a department statement. The caller told authorities the man was holding a knife to his stomach, the statement said. When deputies arrived they saw the man holding in his right hand a long metal object that resembled a knife, authorities said.

The union for rank and file Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies removed its president recently because of problems with his attendance, according to a union statement. The Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs did not elaborate further on why the board of directors removed Armando Macias, saying only that the newly installed president would be replaced by the vice president until a permanent replacement is selected. The management shake-up comes as the union considers a potential endorsement in the upcoming sheriff's election.

April 10, 2014 | By Joseph Serna, This post has been corrected, as indicated below.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department acknowledged Thursday that its deputies mistakenly shot and killed a aspiring TV producer they thought was a stabbing suspect. In fact, John Winkler, 30, had gone to a neighbor's apartment Monday night on Palm Avenue in West Hollywood where a man was holding people hostage and tried to help. Winkler was shot when he rushed out of the apartment with another victim who had been trapped inside the apartment with a third victim and the suspect, sheriff's officials said in a statement.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies shot and killed two men this weekend in separate incidents, including one in which a man was slain when he pulled a gun on deputies who were trying to disperse partygoers Friday night at a Lynwood house. In a separate incident, deputies shot a man behind a condominium complex Saturday in Carson. A preliminary investigation into the first shooting indicates that Guillermo Saucedo, 23, of Cudahy died of multiple gunshot wounds, said county coroner's spokesman Lt. Joe Bale.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is investigating a deputy-involved shooting that occurred Friday afternoon in Long Beach. Deputies shot and wounded a man about 12:25 p.m. on East Pacific Coast Highway, authorities said. The man was taken by paramedics to a hospital. No deputies were injured, according to sheriff's officials. Further details about the incident were not immediately available. ALSO: Man found standing over dead mother with knife, police say Suspect in salon death offered 'vampire face lifts,' police say CHP: 17 callers saw wrong-way driver on 2 freeways before fatal crash ruben.vives@latimes.com Twitter: @latvives

Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said Thursday that a man at the center of a videotaped altercation with deputies died from heart disease -- not baton blows. The county coroner's office labeled David Sal Silva's death accidental, adding that the primary cause of death was hypertensive heart disease. Videos taken by witnesses showed baton blows and a struggle between Silva and deputies. Youngblood said those blows were mainly to his midsection and were not fatal. Silva also received a bite from a K-9 dog. Toxicology tests showed Silva had amphetamines and methamphetamines in his system and a blood alcohol level of 0.095.

A knife-wielding man was shot and killed Friday night during a confrontation with deputies outside a home in Maywood, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff's deputies from the East Los Angeles Station responded around 11:06 p.m. to a report of a man attempting to commit suicide at a home in the 3800 block of 56th Street, according to a department statement. The caller told authorities the man was holding a knife to his stomach, the statement said. When deputies arrived they saw the man holding in his right hand a long metal object that resembled a knife, authorities said.

Two former L.A. County sheriff's deputies allegedly turned off the electricity and a security camera system inside a medical marijuana dispensary as they planted guns they used to justify two arrests, according to court documents. Julio Cesar Martinez, 39, and Anthony Manuel Paez, 32, have been charged with two felony counts of conspiring to obstruct justice and altering evidence, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. Martinez faces two additional felony counts of perjury and filing a false report.

See correction to the headline below. Two former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies have been charged with planting guns at a medical marijuana dispensary that led to the arrest of two men, one of whom prosecutors said was sentenced to a year in jail before the bad evidence was discovered. Julio Cesar Martinez, 39, and Anthony Manuel Paez, 32, face two felony counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice and altering evidence, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office announced Wednesday.

One of two men arrested in 2011 by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies now accused of planting guns as evidence pleaded no contest to a charge stemming from the false arrest and was sentenced to time in jail, officials said Wednesday. Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, said Johnny Yang had already pleaded no contest to possessing ecstasy in the presence of a firearm before investigators determined the evidence was planted. Yang was sentenced to a year in jail as a result, Robison said, but it was unclear how much time he served.

Two former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies have been charged with conspiracy, perjury and altering evidence in connection with planting guns inside a medical marijuana dispensary to justify two arrests in 2011, prosecutors said. Julio Cesar Martinez, 39, and Anthony Manuel Paez, 32, were charged with one felony count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice and altering evidence as a peace officer, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. Martinez was also charged with two felony counts of perjury and one of filing a false report.

Two former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies have been charged with planting guns at a medical marijuana dispensary to arrest two men, one of whom prosecutors said was sentenced to a year in jail before the bad evidence was discovered. Julio Cesar Martinez, 39, and Anthony Manuel Paez, 32, face two felony counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice and altering evidence, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office announced Wednesday. Martinez was charged with two additional felony counts of perjury and one count of filing a false report.

A nurse remained in critical condition Monday after being stabbed multiple times in a Sylmar hospital, officials said. “She's said to be a fighter, and she's hanging in there,” said Lt. Denise Stephenson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's County Services Bureau. A man entered the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center around 2 a.m. Sunday and bypassed a weapons screening checkpoint, authorities said. Sheriff's deputies ran after him and were searching the hospital when they heard a woman scream.

Residents in a Bellflower neighborhood were told to stay indoors Wednesday afternoon after reports of gunshots. About 1:10 p.m., a person called 911 from a home in the 17600 block of Virginia Avenue then hung up, but not before the dispatcher heard a woman screaming and indications that a gun could be involved, Sheriff's Sgt. David Sprengel said. Deputies, including the SWAT team, rushed to the area and heard several shots and locked down the neighborhood. The female 911 caller and possibly one other person fled from the home as authorities showed up, leaving the gunman inside alone, Sprengel said.

San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies are in a standoff with a man who fled as deputies tried to approach him at a shopping center in Fontana, authorities said. Deputies tried to make contact with the man, who is the subject of a criminal investigation, about 1:15 p.m. at Summit Plaza, said Sgt. Anthony Vega. As they approached, the man fled and a short vehicle pursuit ensued, Vega said. The man drove to a residence in the 3700 block of American Elm Road in the community of Rosena Ranch, where he has been holed up since.

The L.A. County sheriff's deputies who mistakenly shot two victims of a knife attack in West Hollywood, killing one, will return to active duty next week, department officials said. The three deputies have gone through the psychological evaluation and training required after shootings in which a person is hit and have been cleared to go back on patrol, said West Hollywood station Capt. Gary Honings. The deputies had been on leave since April 7 when they fatally shot aspiring Hollywood producer John Winkler in the chest as he and another victim ran out of an apartment, officials said.